Black Duck Cove fish plant on fire

A photo circulating on Facebook shows the Black Duck Cove plant up in flames with black smoke filling the sky. - Facebook photo

A fish plant in Black Duck Cove, a small community on the Great Northern Peninsula, caught fire Wednesday evening, May 15.

Pictures circulating on Facebook show the roof of the complex aflame with clouds of black smoke filling the sky.

The extent of the damage is unknown.

The St. Barbe to Forrester's Point Fire Department is on the scene fighting the blaze, with the Straits and Plum Point Fire Departments on hand for assistance.

Hank Diamond, the Straits Volunteer Department fire chief, wrote on Facebook at 7:47 pm, that the situation is "very serious" and has asked the public to leave the area immediately and not to enter the area.

Millie Dredge of Black Duck Cove lives near the plant.

She says she, and others who live nearby, were asked to leave their homes for the time being, as a precaution.

"I looked at that plant every morning," she told The Northern Pen. "I worked there for 35 years. I've been retired seven years. It's not a pretty sight. Very sad."

"The propane tanks were blowing up and you could feel it in Anchor Point - and that's a ways away," she said. "Like something hitting the ground just like thunder."

The Quinlan Brothers bought the plant in 2003 and has operated it as a shrimp plant since 2004. About 50-60 people were employed at the plant.

It is a major employer in the Straits region of the Northern Peninsula, and is one of seven fish plants in the province that processes shrimp.

The plant was in production when the fire started. Everyone escaped the plant unharmed.